CVS, Walgreens Among Companies Flagged by FDA for Selling Sketchy Products | Hacker News Reader

CVS, Walgreens Among Companies Flagged by FDA for Selling Sketchy Products

gizmodo.com

18 pointsRadixDLT9 comments

Both companies sells scam products like CBD creams and 90% of cosmetics.

So I was idly browsing shelves at CVS one night, the CVS nearest the university, I should say.

I found a few vaginal suppositories up on a shelf, god what was I doing in that aisle?

One caught my eye, branded Loyalty, so I plucked it off the shelf and turned it around to find its main ingredient is boric acid.

Wikipedia mentions that is one of the medical uses of boric acid.

First, I didn't say what the use is, and secondly, you're describing a much different preparation than the one in the box I found.

> First, I didn't say what the use is

You said it's a vaginal suppository at a CVS, so you're in the united states at a major retailer looking at a major product category that contains a common ingredient for that category. There isn't any serious ambiguity. Boric acid preparations have mild and mostly gentle antibiotic properties.

> god what was I doing in that aisle?

This plus the university betrays a kind of youthful naivety, so, if it helps any, the boric acid in the suppository was there to raise acidity by a not dangerously high amount when used in moderation.

> you're describing a much different preparation than the one I found

You said boric acid, they said boric acid. Boric acid is commonly used in products meant to reduce bacteria and fungi. It's common in eye drops too.

> branded Loyalty

Are you sure it wasn't just "Loyal"?

> its main ingredient is boric acid

So? I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

A few years ago, bugs were just finding me at home, and so I went to the hardware store and purchased some heavy-duty roach poison. It's a white powder; active ingredient: boric acid. I was informed of its toxicity and the need to avoid inhaling it, where it would, you know, damage my mucous membranes.

I've purchased the Similasan products before when I was dealing with dry eye/eye strain issues, and they are bunk. Mostly saline and some homeopathic BS. That said saline "helped" and they usually labeled it as "relief" not a cure or treatment so I knew it wasn't anything more at best than a symptom reliever. That said I never bought them again as they didn't do anything more than plain saline drops.

I was in a CVS a few years ago where they were selling a tincture which was supposed to help children stop wetting the bed. It contained mercury. I’m not sure how they could legally sell that.

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